Even the undead care!

Last Friday, August 5, 2011, students from the Tennessee Valley came to protest TVA’s proposal to complete the 40 year old Bellefonte nuclear facility. TVA already spent $4.6 billion on Bellefonte before stopping construction in 1988. Now it wants to spend an additional $7-9 billion to complete the two aging reactors. The Bellefonte reactors were plundered for parts from 2006 to 2009, TVA DOESN’T REALLY KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON! Additionally, structural damage to the containment vessel of Unit 1 was discovered in 2009 AND the plant sits on a recently rediscovered fault line! Maybe TVA’s directors have forgotten about the horrible disaster in Japan that led to a nuclear crisis. Some have deemed Bellefonte as “zombie” reactors, as they are neither alive nor dead. That’s why over 25 students came to Knoxville to show TVA the danger of finishing this plant from 40 years ago! It’s a no brainer that TVA should say no to Bellefonte, but apparently students have to remind them to use their brains.

Our rally was in Market Square, which is where all the action happens in downtown Knoxville. There, we had a press conference with speakers from different organizations to explain the dangers of Bellefonte and why we stand against it. When the 5 o’clock news came, Zombies infiltrated Market Square because radiation = mutation. We can’t let this be the future for the Tennessee Valley on our watch! It was great to see so many organizations come out to show support. The best part about the rally was the age group represented! The speakers, media, and supporters represented the older population, but almost all the 30 zombies were students or under 25!!! Still, some bystanders did not pay attention! We saw several high level TVA employees observing us from TVA property. Someone mentioned that the young people needed to come out, even though we were the ones out there being zombies!